Friends of Myths & Past Wounds
Malik and Xi'Lang were indeed enjoying their time with each other as they hung out within the beauty of Central Park. Though, the unpleasant reminders regarding the Forest Fire, which had been blazing in Redwoods King Canyon, were not delightful. Even with the earbuds that assisted Malik in keeping him from being overloaded by the shrieking choir of New York City. The last thing he would want is a visit from a member of The Ethereal Council. Least of all would be the one-eyed, self-proclaimed, All-Father or jade emperor... Their massive egos were annoying enough even if they were elected to sit on The Council. He did not want his funding for his cafe to be cut short due to the ones he needed to watch over. "Something bothering you, Malik?" Questioned Xi'Lang as she glanced over to Malik as he was deep within his own thoughts. "I have been trying to get your attention for a while and am surprised that you haven't been hearing anything from me." She pressed further with a cocked eyebrow.
He gave the Lotus Woman a small ashamed chuckle as Malik scratched his ears a bit. "Yeah... Sorry about that. My hearing may be really good, but sometimes it doesn't work like my stories say it does when I am in my own thoughts..." Malik admitted before giving out a sigh. "Just hoping that I am not getting my funding cut short from Cerberus Accounting due to the reckless antics of the younglings from earlier... You know how the Council can get at times if you had met them before." He added on as Xi'Lang began to realize what was bothering her newest companion.
"That does make sense. Met the guy who runs the company before. I nor my brother don't understand why people make him out to be some 'Evil King of Darkness'." She relaid with an exaggerated expression regarding the misconception regarding the CEO of said Banking Company.
Soon, a man dressed in a formal business suit walked a proud Molossian hound, quite large, and portrayed a sense of nobility to match its physical power. The man himself was someone who held a sense of responsibility and gentleness. Despite the vigorously trimmed hair and beard, he did his best to keep his appearance nice and trimmed. Although, his hair and bread were colored pure white. Yet not by a means to say he was an old man, the kind of white that was more of an exotic and bold hair color than an expression of age. He looked like he was in his early forties as Xi'Lang began to glow at the sight of the powerful hound that accompanied the businessman. "Hello, Malik... You and I need to have a little discussion regarding recent events." He announced as his eyes glowed with a powerful yet violent shade of blood red from the pure blue that had shined before. Malik got up with his hands within his jacket pockets as his own eyes shined back with a powerful aura colored a dark purple while a small scowl grew upon his own face.
"I figured as much, Henry... Coming to cut my funding or do one of the other Divine's dirty work for them?" Malik retorted as he stood before Henry in a manner to express an equal display of power to oppose Henry's own radiating aura. "You really want to do this in public, though? Because then, the Council is gonna have both of our asses at that point.
Henry cracked a small smile as he recognized that battling the Shadow Sorcerer with his own power would not go too well. After all, he was meant to only lecture Malik. Not do battle with him as he turned to Xi'Lang as she was playing with his prized dog. "Looks like Spots are enjoying your company, madam, a rare sight to see for first-timers." He announced as Spots yelped in joy from Xi'Lang's petting and common coos for a dog. "Mind watching over him as Malik and I have a little discussion in private?" He asked as Xi'lang was more than happy to comply with his request. With that, the two men walked off as Henry swiftly called forth his limo to take a small drive with Malik. Though as they entered the car, their demeanor took a sudden shift from old enemies to close friends as the two reverted to their original forms. "Jeez, Liùěr Míhóu. Talk about overdoing the aggression... You act like we are how the NCIS Agents react with The FBI within that television drama that the mortals watch." Announced The Olympian Ruler of The Underworld with a joyful laugh as he leaned back in his seat.
Macaque returned the hardy laugh as he leaned back along with Hades. "Well, Hades, that isn't exactly off to say our relationship is like the ones that the actors Mark Harmon and Joe Spano have with their characters. You are one of the few guys I can actually get along with among the Council." He joked with a smirk as Hades couldn't help but agree with the comparison.
"Fair enough. Though, I do need an explanation as to why your group of mythics resorted to such mass destruction back in California, though. Thankfully, most of Mortal's new media had already announced that it was due to the results of some kids being reckless..." He told the Six-Eared Monkey as Macaque straightened himself to express he understood the seriousness of their situation.
"Yeah, there is a good explanation as to why it happened. It is very worrying too..." Macaque explained ass Hades perked up to this. "They were trying to fend off a heavily modified combination of a Lenshy and Atchen creature. When I heard about this, I definitely was caught off guard by this. Haven't heard about someone being bold enough to experiment on such a deadly monster of both Native and Slavic Folklore before." The Monkey explained as this began to bring a concern to Hades. "It is doubtful that one of the Tech Companies which has rediscovered Arcane Crystals and its energy would be able to pull something like that off... Also, refresh my memory on that discovery and if we would need to stop them from figuring out Magic all over again." Macaque requested as he looked over to The King of The Underworld for more information.
Though, to the Monkey's surprise, Hades shook his head in response before he elaborated on why; "Arcane Energy and the Crystals that hold it are a natural form of energy. Each world has its own deposit of Arcane Ore deep within mountains. The Ethereal Council had made an agreement that any discoveries are made through normal means should not be interfered with. Such as how humans figured out to utilize Gamma Radiation and Atomic Energy, despite the destructive outcomes it had produced." The Olympian concluded as he and Macaque recalled the Destructive Power which this form of energy is capable of. The Bombings of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were prime examples of this destruction, while the Chernobyl Disaster fallout it can have. The Meltdown had left the entire region uninhabitable for nearly three centuries due to the amount of radiation that was left behind. "Even if we wanted to stop humans from learning how to utilize Arcane effectively, we can not interfere with their natural course of history." He finished off as Hades decided to return to another detail regarding their conversation. "About that creature... Have any idea where it came from? From what I can recall about Atchens, the further they are from their natural habit, the more likely they are to decay as their bodies are already rotting corpses. This is the same when it comes to Leshies, too. I don't see how it would be possible for it to survive as long as it has so far." These details were indeed true regarding the Glunottous Monster, which plagued The Native Culture as Hades recalled in his thoughts.
Though, the answer was far more worrying as Macaque soon relaid it. "The Creature was genetically and magically enhanced by someone... I do not know how that would be possible, even with the recent rediscovery of Arcane Energy... It feels like someone has far more knowledge on the extent of Arcane than most." The Six-Eared Sorcerer explained as Hades became just as worried as his friend.
With a heavy sigh, The King of The Underworld pulled out a mobile device and ran through his contacts. "I am gonna report this to The Council. Don't worry about your funding. Sounds like what had transpired was reasonable. Just make sure this doesn't happen again." He told Macaque as the limo returned to the park. As they revert to their human appearance, Henry was happy to see his dog enjoying Xi'Lang's company as the two play around with each other.
Back at The Dungeon Keeper's Inn, Tyrik was taking a break from his exhausting training to master his newfound powers. Even if Drake was helpful with the task of understanding his Mythical Half, it was a hard transition between the normal nerd to warrior hero. The Arthurian Blade did not make anything easier as it seemed to have a will of its own. Each time he tried to master the blade effectively, Tyrik was forced to relive painful memories as it resulted in The Dragon bringing itself out with a destructive nature. He didn't know why this would occur as Tyrik once again glanced at Caliburn as it glinted with blue energy. Upon the blade, there were several runes engraved within the metal. Most likely placed on it by Merlin to assist in his mission to crown King Arthur Pendragon in the past. "But why is it reacting like this to me? Why are you forcing me to relive the time with Valerie? I don't want to go through that pain again..." He asked the sword as if it was going to respond to his questioning. Though, Tyrik often talked to himself to organize his thoughts for whatever was running through his mind. With a breath to calm himself, he held the blade's handle with both hands and eyes closed to brace himself for the memories ahead.
As the Magic channeled through him once more, Tyrik was transported within his mind to the event of high school. There, Tyrik sat with the Tormentor of his past, Valerie Adier. She was no doubt beautiful with a confident personality to match. Valerie had even adorned the physique of a powerful warrior woman. Almost as if this was gifted by heritage to Viking Warriors, golden hair with hints of a vibrant orange as it reach her shoulders. Valerie wore a leather jacket with spikes on the shoulders, a v-neck mid-drift shirt to show off her firm bust which could rival the size of Esmeralda, a skirt that reach her knees, and boots made to transverse heavy terrain with little issue. Though, Valerie was not to show off her curves and toned muscles to make others jealous of her. After all, she valued the praise and jealousy of others as Valerie was indeed the school's lead cheerleader while she applied her pink lipstick on herself. Next to her was Tyrik, trying to complete a drawing he had been crafting for some time. Though, Valerie was annoyed by this expression of talent as she closed her pocket-sized mirror loudly to snap her boyfriend out of his thoughts. With this abrupt sound, Tyrik yelped and ran his pencil across the drawing, which ruined all of his hard work. "Sorry for that, Ty. I can tell you have been putting a lot of effort into that, but I have told you before." She spoke with a sweet yet poisonous tone in her voice, "You are sadly wasting your time... There are so many places that need many improvements before you would be able to make a decent piece of art." Valerie explained with a false sense of encouragement while putting her mirror into her bag.
These words stung at Tyrik as he was oblivious to the hidden insults, believing this was her way to help him develop his talents. "Right... I am trying at least... That has to count for something. Right?" He asked with a nervous voice as he turned to Valerie with a small smile.
Valerie gave this some thought as she leaned against Ty, humming in a small cheerful tone as she did. "Point taken there, Nerd. You will be able to make a good set of art with your skills. Eventually, at least with more practice." She told him as Valerie gave the naive boy with a charming smile. "You may be a dork, but you are definitely talented. Though, I think that talent should be used elsewhere. Applied for the football team yet, sweetheart?" She questioned, vaguely in a commanding tone, as Valerie sat up straight and she stretched a bit. Though, her control of this moment was cut short by a basketball being thrown at her. Valerie's eyes glowed with a dark purple for a brief second as she caught the aggressive ball with a single hand. Glaring at the one who had tossed it at her, Ricky Santos.
"You know that Tyrik doesn't want to play any of the sports. He is not into that kind of stuff, Val." He told Valerie as she stood up while placing the ball in both of her hands, trying to intimidate the large man before her. "Can you lay off that for once you bi-" He began as Tyrik shouted at them both to stop a fight from breaking out once more. This ended up frustrating him as Ricky groaned aloud while rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Fine... But she can't keep pushing you around like this, bud..." The Filipino announced as Valerie rolled her eyes at the comment as she tossed the ball back at him.
"Hey... She is just trying to help me out. Valerie may be a bit harsh with her methods, but she does care about me..." Tyrik attempted to reason with a nervous sweat. This did win a chuckle from Valerie as she placed a hand on her hip in a sassy manner.
"Of course I am. Tough Love does help sometimes. Plus," Valerie announced as she went over to hold onto her prize, "I am the one who asked Tyrik out to Prom, Rick. You would know I wouldn't simply ask this kind of hunk out if I didn't find him appealing." She announced with a venomous grin, resulting in Ricky glaring in disgust while Tyrik kissed Valerie on her cheek to show his affection towards The Leaad Cheerleader